MCX Natural Gas tips yesterday settled down by 2.42% at 201.2 as output continues to rise as wells return after Hurricane Delta and on forecasts for less demand this week than previously expected.
That decline came despite an increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and forecasts for colder weather and more demand next week.
Gas speculators, meanwhile, boosted their net long positions on the New York Mercantile and Intercontinental Exchanges last week for a third week in a row to the highest since May 2017 on expectations prices and energy demand will rise next year as the economy rebounds once state governments lift more coronavirus-linked lockdowns.
U.S. natural gas prices at the Henry Hub benchmark in Louisiana in 2020 were expected to drop to their lowest since 1995 as near record production and ample storage reduce market worries about future price spikes and supply shortages.
U.S. natural gas storage is expected to end the April-October injection season at a record 4.019 trillion cubic feet (tcf) around Oct. 31 as the coronavirus cuts energy prices and demand by more than producers reduce output.
That compares with 3.762 tcf at the end of the injection season in 2019, the highest since 2017, and a five-year (2015-2019) average of 3.754 tcf. In 2017, there was 3.816 tcf of gas in storage on Oct. 31.
